BBM BlackBerry Torch    

Before I became a BlackBerry addict, my way of communicating regularly with friends, family and colleagues was through SMS. I had to make sure that my mobile phone contract came with a text bundle. This was the case for many people I know. Now, however, I own a BlackBerry and so do many of my friends and family, so I hardly text as we communicate via BBM. I've still got the text bundle but I hardly make a dent in it anymore. It seems I'm not the only one in this boat as it looks to be the case with a lot of people, particularly in the 15-24 year old age bracket. This is according to a recent report made by Mobile Youth, a consultancy who carry out research on the mobile usage of young people for mobile operators, consumer electric brands and the like. Their report suggests that Instant Messaging apps are causing a decline in the number of text messages being sent and BBM is at the top of the list.

Mobile Youth director, Graham Brown says, "We've seen SMS usage fall among young people and the main driver is BlackBerry." Their report predicts that over the next two years there will be a 20 percent drop in SMS usage in certain parts of the world. These include UK, Indonesia and South America.

I can see this being the case in the UK, just by walking around the university campus, or even the high street you'll students and teenagers tapping away at their BlackBerry devices. I forever hear BlackBerry ringtones and notifications going off here and there and to be honest it doesn't look to be slowing down. With networks offering cheap deals on pay as you go there's no surprise. And with the recent news of Apple bringing iMessage to the iPhone, we could see other regions seeing a decline in text messaging too.

Any thoughts? Do you still text? Or is it all about instant messaging? Sound off in the comments.

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